A New Hope for Anishinaabemowin

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This article was published 09/08/2024 (471 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

During the land acknowledgement at Thursday’s Aug. 8 world première of Star Wars (Anangong Miigaading), A New Hope at the Centennial Concert Hall, MC David McLeod was required to start again and slow down, as cheers drowned him out the first time he announced each Indigenous group of Manitoba by name.

I was one of the people cheering.

Though I am Swampy Cree, I was Anishinaabe in spirit for this screening. I had only ever seen A New Hope — director George Lucas’s seminal 1977 space opera, orginally known simply as Star Wars — on television screens and never in a theatrical setting, but it has always held an important place in my heart, as it comforted me during the deaths of my beloved grandparents within months of each other.

There are some similarities in Anishinaabemowin to the Cree language and hearing Dustin Gerald Morrow as Obi-Wan Kenobi say one of the final lines, “The Force will be with you. Always,” in a voice very similar to my Grandpa Norman George made me choke up.

The première opened with a pow-wow grand entry that included jingle dress dancer Dyondrae Desjarlais in regalia inspired by the character of Princess Leia and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew giving a “Wookiee traditional greeting.”

The sci-fi epic was dubbed into the Anishinaabemowin language through a joint project that included Lucasfilm, the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council, APTN and the University of Manitoba.

According to Indigenous Language Manitoba Inc., Anishinaabemowin has a vitality rating of “endangered,” as it is no longer the primary language used by children. Just 0.48 per cent of Manitoba speaks Anishinaabemowin, according to the 2017 census.

The project to dub Star Wars into Anishinaabemowin began when Lucasfilm released a dub in Navajo. Michael Kohn, executive dubbing producer for Lucasfilm, oversaw the Navajo translation and agreed to team up with Maeengan Linklater of the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council and Patricia Ningewance, University of Manitoba professor and lead translator for the film.

The film is a family affair: Maeengan is the son of Prof. Ningewance, and his own son, Aandeg Jedi Muldrew, voices Luke Skywalker in the Anishinaabemowin dub. Cary Miller, associate professor in the department of Indigenous studies at the U of M, and APTN joined as project partners.

Throughout fall 2023 and early 2024, translation and recording took place in Winnipeg and included the work of a team of experts in linguistics, Anishinaabemowin dialects, screen adaptation and Star Wars lore.

All that work proved worth the effort Thursday evening. A sense of joy was palpable throughout the 2,305-seat venue as loud cheers erupted each time a beloved character spoke their first lines in Anishinaabemowin.

“It would fill (my parents’) hearts if they were alive, not to mention my grandparents (to have seen the film),” Anishinaabe elder Carl Stone said.

“It’s absolutely awesome.”

The elder said he has seen A New Hope 30 times since it was first released but plans to see it “90 more” times now that it is in his language.

“Never did I imagine a movie like this would be in my mother and dad’s language. This movie I’m sure (will) help to inspire so many more to speak Anishinaabemowin,” he said.

Anishinaabe writer and director Rachel Beaulieu felt inspired after seeing Anangong Miigaading. “It feels good to know that the work I’ll be doing will be welcomed with open arms,” she said, grinning. “I feel like the language will never be lost when there’s initiatives like this in filmmaking.”

Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin (may the Force be with you).

Disney/Lucasfilm is offering fans up to four complimentary tickets to see the movie when it opens for a limited run at select Cineplex theatres today, Saturday. Visit Cineplex.com for more info.

Sonya Ballantyne is a Swampy Cree writer, filmmaker and speaker originally from Misipawistik Cree Nation. The Death Tour, a feature documentary about a wrestling tour through Northern Manitoba, which she co-directed with Stephan Peterson, is playing at Dave Barber Cinematheque to Aug. 18.

X: @sonyaballantyne